causes of illness middle ages
devil or satan held responsible for making people ill
they didn't actually know why people got ill so just used the church as an explanation for people's questions
A disease could be sent from god to test someone's faith.
people often got ill from famine which they explained as god's punishment for sin.
they supported the idea that god sent illness as punishment because if someone got better it was a 'miracle' because of the patient's prayers.
sent to cleanse one's soul of sin and test faith
They were aware that diseases could be contagious because of how they treat people with leprosy
they also believed the the alignment of the stars and planets played a big role in why someone was ill depending on what time they were born.
The four humours were also used to explain illness (yellow bile, black bile, phlegm and blood) and if these were out of balance, you could supposedly get ill. The time you were born and astrology could affect the balance of your humours.
someone with a fever had too much blood because blood was hot and someone with a cold must have too much phlegm because it was cold and wet and the excess would come out of their nose.
Miasma was another reason for the cause of disease. This was just bad air.
Hippocrates and Galen both recognised that rotting matter and corpses could transmit disease
people thought leprosy was contagious through miasma
People with a good smelling home was a sign of spirituality
people thought that a bad smelling home was the result of sin
being critical of the church was a bad idea
treatments and prevention
They believed that touching the relics of a saint would heal them. A saint could only be a saint after curing a certain amount of people.
the kind had a magic touch and was supposedly able to heal people with his touch. This was a good way for the king to express their divine right.
If prayers and offerings didn't work, the people could chant incantations or use charms to ward off disease although this wasn't supported by the church.
Often the patients were advised not to look for a cure because the diseases were sent to wash away sin and cleanse your soul. Medicine would keep you alive but you soul would still be stained with sin.
Treatment had to be done at the right time. The astrology at the time had to be throughly preserved throughout treatment such as the alignment of the stars and planets.
They treated the symptom instead of the cause. we treat the cause instead of the symptom. They would try and stop the patient from coughing we would try to treat the chest infection.
Blood letting was a common cure for an imbalance of the humours. It relied on the theory that the bad humours could be removed from the body if some of the blood was
blood letting was so common that physicians didn't even bother doing it themselves. They got the barber surgeons and wise women to do it instead.
it was believed that the humours were made of the food that we eat. Purging the digestive system meant ridding it of the food using laxatives.
also were often prescribed herbal remedies
`Having a bath was another good cure for an infection
Having a hot bath allowed the humours to steam out any blockages
The church was good way to prevent disease because the most common and popular way to prevent illness was leading a sin free life
It was also important to them to take care of your bodily health (hygiene). They were told how to do thin within a set of instructions called the regimen sanitatis
this would ideally be provided by the doctor and would be different based on the patient's humours and lifestyle
it recommended a bath so as not to have a miasma so many people had a public bath
They made sure- no matter how poor- to wash their hands before every meal
Humours were thought to be made up of digestion therefore eating too much was strongly discouraged